Music-leaf turner.



J. B. MURRAY.

MUSIC LEAF TURNER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.16,*1911 1,010,944. Patented Dec. 5, 1911.

COLUMBIA PLANUGRAPH conwAsnlNuroN. n. c.

INVENTOR UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN B. MURRAY, OF ELLWOOD CITY, PENNSYLVANIA.

MUSIC-LEAF TURNER.

Application filed January 16, 1911.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, JOHN B. MURRAY, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Ellwood City, in the county of Lawrence and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Music-Leaf Turners, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to music leaf turners, and the objects of my invention are to provide a device of the above type with positive and reliable means in a manner as will be hereinafter set forth whereby the pages or leaves of sheet or book music can be easily and quickly turned, and to provide a music leaf turner that can be advantageously used in connection with a piano, organ or music rack.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a music leaf turner with a novel turning mechanism that is compact and easily operated, and to accomplish the above results by a device that is simple in construction, durable and highly efficient for the purposes for which it is intended.

lVith these and such other objects in view as may hereinafter appear, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be presently described and then claimed.

teference will now be had to the drawing, wherein there is illustraetd a preferred embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that the structural elements thereof are susceptible to such changes as fall within the scope of the appended claim.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a front elevation of the music leaf turner, Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of a portion of the same, Fig. 3 is a vertical cross sectional view of a portion of the same, Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view of the operating mechanism of the music leaf turner, Fig. 5 is a perspective view illustrating the arrangement of the branches 20 with respect to the frames, and Fig. 6 is a sectional plan broken away on line VL-VI of Fig. 5.

The music leaf turner comprises a box or casing having a bottom 1, a rear wall 2, end walls 3, a top 4. and a hinged front wall or lid 5, which permits of easy access being had to the interior of the casing. The top 4 of the casing has the rear edge thereof cut away, as at 6 thus providing an oblong slot Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 5, 1911.

Serial No. 602,360.

to provide clearance for vertical cleats 7 secured to the inner side of the rear wall 2, adjacent to the end walls 3, and extending upwardly from the box or casing. The slot of the casing also provides clearance for a longitudinal support 8, and mounted upon the upper end of said support and secured to said cleats is a board 9 of a sufficient size to support a sheet of music. This board can be polished to conform to the finish of a piano or can be covered with a suitable material.

Arranged upon the bottom 1 of thebox or casing is a socket or bearing 10 for a vertical rotatable shaft 11 extending upwardly through an opening 12 provided therefor in the top 1 of the box or casing, the upper end of the shaft terminating at the upper edge of the board 9. Mounted upon the shaft 11 at the bearing 10 is a small gear wheel 13 and rotatably mounted upon said shaft is a sleeve 14 extending from the gear wheel 13 to the top of the shaft 11. This sleeve and the shaft 11 are braced by a bearing 15 fixed to the top 4: of the box or casing. Mounted upon the sleeve 14 within the box or casing and directly above the gear wheel 13 is a gear wheel 16, and loosely engaging said gear wheel is a pivoted bracket 17 carried by the inner side of the top 4 of the box or casing, said bracket serving functionally as a holdfast device for preventing the sleeve 14 from shifting upwardly upon the shaft 11. The sleeve 14 adjacent to the upper and lower edges of the board 9 is provided with segmentshaped slots 18 and extending through said slots are the ends of a wire frame 19, said frame having the ends thereof suitably secured to the shaft 11. The frame 19 is rectangular in contour and includes a vertically disposed arm and an upper and a lower horizontal arm extending at right angles with respect to the vertical arm. The horizontal arms of the frame 19 are secured to the shaft 11. Fixedly secured to each of the horizontal arms in proximity to the inner ends thereof, as at 19 is the inner end of a resilient retaining member 20 provided at its outer or free end with an enlarged head 21 which abuts against the horizontal arm of the frame and maintains the resilient retaining member at an angle with respect to said horizontal arms and furthermore increases the tension of said arm. The sheet of music is adapted to be positioned against the frame 19 and inserted be tween the members 20 and the horizontal arms of said frames, the heads 21 maintaining the sheet in position. In Fig. 5 of the drawings the sheet is indicated in dotted lines, as at 19 Fixed to the sleeve 1 1 are the looped ends 23 of a rectangular frame 22 which otherwise than that as stated is of the same construction as the frame 19 and is provided with resilient retaining members similar to the members 20 and which are indicated by the reference character 24. The function of the members 24: is the same as that of the members 20.

The inner side of the top 4; of the box or casing is provided with a hanger 25, and journaled in said hanger and the socket or bearing 10 is a vertical shaft 26, said shaft extending through the bottom 1 of the box or casing and having a knurled button or head 27. Mounted upon the shaft 26 are two segment or mutilated gears 28 and 29, the gear 28 being adapted to mesh with the gear wheel 16 and the gear 29 with the gear wheel 13, said gears alternately meshing with their respective gear wheels, as will presently appear.

The music leaf turner can be suitably secured to a piano or music rack and the sheet of music to be turned by the device is placed between the board 9 and the sleeve 1%, the sheet of music resting upon the top of the box or casing. The leaves or sheets to be turned are then placed between the frames 19 and 22 and the resilient retaining members thereof, the members having sutlicient resiliency to frictionally hold the leaves or sheets in engagement with the frames whereby when the frames are swung, the leaves or sheets will be carried with said frames. To swing the frame 19 from the left to the right, the knob or button 27 is rotated to the left, causing the gear 29 to mesh with the gear wheel 13 and rotate the shaft 11 to the right, thereby swinging the frame 19 from the left hand end of the board to the right hand end thereof. The rotation of the button or knob 27 in the same direction causes the gear 28 to mesh with the gear wheel 16 and rotate the sleeve 1%, thereby swinging the frame 22 from the left hand side of the board to the right hand side thereof. The frames 22 and 19 can be reversed by rotation of the knob 27 in the opposite direction from that previously described, the frame 22 being first shifted and then the frame 19.

The music leaf turner in its entirety can be made of light and durable metal and of various sizes.

hat I claim is A music leaf turner comprising a pair of rotatable elements one arranged within the other, a rectangular frame carried by one of said frames, a rectangular frame carried by the other of said frames, resilient retaining members fixed at their inner ends to the inner ends of the horizontal frames of each of said frames and in connection with said arms clamping the leaves of a sheet of music to said frames, means for rotating said elements, each of said retainmg members havmg its free end provlded with an enlarged gripping head.

In testlmony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN B. MURRAY. ll itnesses M. E. GAVEN, R. E. BUTLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, 

